"Studios are also pointing to the Jim Carrey deal on the Warner Bros. comedy "Yes Man" as evidence that risk-sharing deals can pay off.

Many were skeptical when Carrey gave up his usual upfront salary to become an equity investor in the film and deferred his backend salary until breakeven. Despite the severe weather that hampered the opening weekend gross of "Yes Man," Carrey got paid his upfront salary within the film’s first week by WB brass grateful for the aggressive way he promoted it.

He had the incentive to hustle, because the better the film did, the more he earns. "Yes Man" is expected to gross $200 million worldwide. By forgoing his usual salary that brought a $75 million comedy down to $53 million, Carrey become a 33% investor.

His gross position on the backend is applied to the usual pot of DVD revenues that stars access. Studios will be pressing big stars to make similar deals that trigger compensation after studios recoup their negative costs — a trend that has been building in the past several years."